Gasundheit! TWIC reports the start of an interesting tournament in China. The large-by-any-but-Chinese-standards city of Taiyuan (not Taiwan) in north-east China is hosting this Scheveningen format event. (One of Buddhism's most sacred mountains is located there, dontcha know.) A Scheveningen isn't about the Sicilian variation named for the same unpronounceable Dutch town. It is where everyone on one team places everyone on the other team/s. Here they play each other twice, so it's twelve rounds total.
A squad of the top Chinese players faces an international team made up of Jakovenko, Timofeev, Jobava, Asrian, Vescovi, and Berkes. The visitors are fractionally higher rated, but after what the Chinese accomplished on the road at the Turin Olympiad (silver medal), the home team has to be the heavy favorite here. Yet another strong Chinese junior, Wang Hao, is the only change from the Turin team, replacing Zhao Jun. No official site or live game link yet, but they are promised.
It's great to see the Chinese supporting their medal winners with strong events. The $18,000 prize fund wouldn't make much of a dent in Western Europe or the US, however. I'm a big fan of team events for a variety of reasons and a place like the US with sparse chess tradition could certainly benefit from a little more of the nationalism that comes to the fore in such events. But representing the flag shouldn't be a hardship either, so sponsorship is still the name of the game.
Comments
Mig,
Did not Wang Hao play and score well at the Olympiad ?
Posted by: pundit at July 11, 2006 19:20
No, Wang Hao didn't play. It was Wang Yue who played. Wang Xue is 19 and Wang Hao is 17. :) It is hard to get them straight I know.
Posted by: modern at July 11, 2006 19:34
Mig
do you know if it is corporate sponsorship or government sponsorship.
thanks in advance
tommy
Posted by: tommy at July 11, 2006 20:45
It is great that China does these types of events, but why can't they support chess in a more general fashion also? I have lived here in Beijing for more than two years and have never been able to play a game of chess. There are no clubs or tournaments except for some schools and universities. I know there is some sort of team league that they invited celebrities like Skripchenko to participate in, but as far as I have seen there is nothing at all for foreign FIDE players like myself. Why not develop some simple obvious FIDE events, such as a Beijing Championship or Shanghai Open?
Posted by: knight_tour at July 11, 2006 21:33
It's actually spelled gesundheit.
Posted by: macuga at July 11, 2006 22:22
Hope the site promised will be up.
Posted by: Ando at July 12, 2006 00:13
yes, Gesundheit, to be exact, as it is a noun...
Posted by: Albrecht von der Lieth at July 12, 2006 09:07
Give Mig a break, he probably had "gas" when making his last post, hence the mispelling.
Posted by: Todd C. Reynolds at July 12, 2006 09:59
Todd--
MiSSpelling.
Posted by: greg koster at July 12, 2006 10:29
Maybe Mig kan invest in a spellcheker. Could this thread be any more retarded?
Posted by: Todd C. Reynolds at July 12, 2006 11:34
One of the players on a 45 45 league team on FICS was almost unable to play recently because China seems to have blocked the Free Internet Chess Server!
Someone joked that maybe it would be unblocked if it was renamed to the Communist Internet Chess Server.
I myself think that FICS regular political commentator PresidentBush might be responsible for this decision by China.
Posted by: BlkSabb at July 12, 2006 11:46
I heard that Ben Finegold is invited to play in Ukraine! The claim is that unless he gets GM norm there, he will never acquire a title.
AY
Posted by: alex y at July 12, 2006 11:58
is that the country were you do not even have to show up to get a gm title. I was reading about it somewhere.
anyway. I like the new mig article on Norway championship with Magnus.
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3230
then looking at the pictures I see there is someone with a broad rim hat staring at the chess board. the picture reminded me of all the controversy over here about someone wearing a hat and staring at the chess board.
Posted by: tommy at July 12, 2006 20:01
Now why would you bring that topic up again? Are you trying to get some more childish bickering in here? If so, good job :)
Posted by: Brad at July 13, 2006 00:02
alex y? hmmm, interesting...
You see, at the USCF tournaments there's always an Alexander (!) Yermolinsky, a player I have never met. Since the seat next to that name sigh is empty I take it simply because I can't find where Alex (full name Alexey) Yermolinsky is supposed to sit.
I have long suspected that Alexander Yermolinsky does exist as a USCF-created clone (where did they get the tissue sample?), and lurks at the background ready to trot out and play when I fail to show up.
This might explain the recent drop in Alex Yermolinsky's rating.
Posted by: Yermo at July 13, 2006 16:11
alex y? hmmm, interesting...
You see, at the USCF tournaments there's always an Alexander (!) Yermolinsky, a player I have never met. Since the seat next to that name sigh is empty I take it simply because I can't find where Alex (full name Alexey) Yermolinsky is supposed to sit.
I have long suspected that Alexander Yermolinsky does exist as a USCF-created clone (where did they get the tissue sample?), and lurks at the background ready to trot out and play when I fail to show up.
This might explain the recent drop in Alex Yermolinsky's rating.
Posted by: Yermo at July 13, 2006 16:13
Alex Y 's post is not correct. There should be some check against using famous chess people's names. If you don't want to disclose your true name , fine but implying it is somebody else posting is not correct.
Posted by: peach at July 13, 2006 17:41
I agree with peach.
Posted by: kasparov at July 13, 2006 20:56
omg Yermo, I found that quite amusing. And finally I have a small criticsm of Mig's website: can't copy drom the Dirt posts!
Posted by: Cynical Gripe at July 14, 2006 00:02
Y doesn't stand for Yermo, I respect this GM a great deal and never meant to confuse anyone. Since my last name DOES start with a "y" then why not use this name?
AY
Posted by: alex y at July 14, 2006 00:42
Sorry Round 4 reuslts:
[Event "TaiYuan"]
[Site "TaiYuan"]
[Date "2006.07.13"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Bu Xiangzhi"]
[Black "Jakovenko, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E39"]
[WhiteElo "2664"]
[BlackElo "2667"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2006.07.10"]
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. d4 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. dxc5 O-O 6. a3 Bxc5 7. Nf3 b6 8. Bf4
Bb7 9. Rd1 Nc6 10. e3 Nh5 11. Bg3 h6 12. Ne4 Nxg3 13. hxg3 f5 14. Nxc5 (14. Nd6
Bxd6 15. Rxd6 Qc7) 14... bxc5 15. g4 15... Ne7 $6 (15... fxg4 $8 16. Rxh6 gxh6
(16... Rf5 17. Nh4 gxh6 (17... Qa5+ 18. Rd2 gxh6 19. Nxf5 exf5 20. Qxf5) 18.
Nxf5 exf5 19. Qxf5 Qg5 20. Qxd7) 17. Qg6+ Kh8 18. Qxh6+ Kg8 19. Qg6+ Kh8 20.
Qh5+ Kg7 21. Qxg4+ 21... Kh8 $8 (21... Kf6 22. Qh4+ Kg7 23. Ng5) 22. Qh5+ Kg8
23. Qg6+ $11) 16. Qd2 $1 (16. g5 Bxf3 17. gxf3 hxg5) 16... Bxf3 (16... d5 17.
g5) 17. gxf3 d5 18. Bh3 $1 18... Ng6 (18... fxg4 19. fxg4 dxc4 20. g5) (18...
dxc4 19. Qc3 Qb6 20. Qxc4) 19. gxf5 (19. cxd5 Nh4) 19... Ne5 (19... Nh4 20. Qe2
) 20. Qe2 Rb8 (20... Nxc4 21. fxe6 Rb8 22. b4 cxb4 23. e4) 21. cxd5 (21. fxe6
Qf6 (21... Nxc4 {- 20...Nxc4}) 22. f4 Nxc4 (22... Rxb2 23. Qh5) 23. Rxd5) 21...
Qf6 (21... exd5 22. f4) (21... c4 22. fxe6 Nd3+ 23. Rxd3 cxd3 24. Qxd3) 22. b4
$1 22... exf5 (22... c4 23. fxe6) 23. f4 Nd7 24. Qc4 (24. Kf1) 24... cxb4 25.
d6+ (25. axb4) 25... Kh8 (25... Qf7 26. Qxf7+ Rxf7 27. axb4 Rxb4) 26. axb4 Nb6
27. Qd4 Qg6 (27... Rbd8) 28. Ke2 Rf6 (28... Qh5+ 29. f3 Rf6) 29. Rdg1 Qf7 30.
Bxf5 30... Rd8 $2 (30... Rxf5 31. Rxh6+ Kg8 32. Rhg6 Rb7 33. Rxg7+ Qxg7 34.
Rxg7+ Rxg7) 31. Bb1 Rdxd6 (31... Nd5 32. Qd3) (31... Kg8 32. Qe4 Rfxd6 33. Qh7+
Kf8 34. Qh8+ Qg8 35. Qxg8+ Kxg8 36. Rd1) 32. Qe4 Qg8 33. Rc1 Rde6 34. Qd4 Rd6
35. Qe4 Rde6 36. Qd4 Rd6 37. Qc5 Qe6 38. Qc2 Qg4+ (38... Qg8 39. Rhd1) 39. Ke1
g6 (39... Kg8 40. Qe4) 40. Qc7 (40. Rxh6+ Kg7 41. Rh1 Nd5) 40... h5 $2 (40...
Rd7) 41. Qb8+ Kg7 42. Ba2 42... Nd5 $4 (42... Nc8 $8) 43. Rc8 $4 (43. Rc7+ Rd7
44. Bxd5) 43... Qe6 44. Re8 (44. Rc7+ Rd7 45. Rxa7) 44... Qf7 45. e4 $4 (45.
Bb3) 45... Nc3 $8 $11 46. Rg8+ Kh7 47. Rh8+ Kg7 48. Rg8+ 1/2-1/2
[Event "Taiyuan GM 2006"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2006.??.??"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Wang Yue"]
[Black "Asrian, K."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E35"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2006.07.11"]
[SourceDate "2006.07.13"]
1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Nf3 c5 7. Bg5 h6 8.
Bxf6 Qxf6 9. a3 Bxc3+ 10. Qxc3 Nd7 11. e3 O-O 12. Bb5 c4 13. Bxd7 Bxd7 14. Ne5
Bf5 15. b3 b5 16. O-O a5 17. bxc4 bxc4 18. f3 Qd6 19. e4 Be6 20. exd5 Bxd5 21.
Rab1 Rfb8 22. Rxb8+ Qxb8 23. Nd7 Qb3 24. Qxb3 cxb3 25. Nb6 Rd8 26. Rb1 Be6 27.
d5 Bxd5 28. Nxd5 Rxd5 29. Rxb3 g5 30. Kf2 Rd2+ 31. Kg3 Ra2 32. h4 1/2-1/2
[Event "2006 Taiyuan GM"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2006.07.13"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Timoteev, A."]
[Black "Zhang Pengxiang"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C04"]
[WhiteElo "2657"]
[BlackElo "2622"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2006.??.??"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nc6 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nd7 6. Bd3 Nb4 7. Be2 c5 8. c3
Nc6 9. O-O a5 10. Bb5 Be7 11. Re1 Na7 12. Bf1 O-O 13. dxc5 Nc6 14. Nb3 a4 15.
Nbd4 Nxc5 16. Be3 Bd7 17. c4 a3 18. cxd5 axb2 19. Rb1 exd5 20. Rxb2 Na5 21. Nd2
Rc8 22. Rb1 Nc6 23. N2f3 Re8 24. Rc1 Nxd4 25. Qxd4 Qa5 26. Qxd5 Be6 27. Qd2
Qxd2 28. Nxd2 Bxa2 29. Nc4 Bxc4 30. Bxc4 Red8 31. Rb1 Kf8 32. g3 Na4 33. Bf1
Rc7 34. Ra1 Nc5 35. Reb1 Nd7 36. Bg2 b6 37. h4 Re8 38. Bf4 Rc5 39. Re1 Rcc8 40.
Bh3 Rcd8 41. Ra7 Nc5 42. Be3 Nd3 43. Rb1 Nxe5 44. Bxb6 Rb8 45. Raa1 Nf3+ 46.
Kg2 Nd2 47. Rd1 Rxb6 1/2-1/2
[Event "Taiyuan"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2006.07.13"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Vescovi"]
[Black "Zhang Zhong"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E12"]
[WhiteElo "2619"]
[BlackElo "2639"]
[PlyCount "129"]
[EventDate "2006.??.??"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. Nc3 Bb7 5. Bg5 Be7 6. Qc2 c5 7. dxc5 bxc5 8. e3
d6 9. Be2 Nbd7 10. O-O O-O 11. Rad1 Qb6 12. Rd2 Rfd8 13. Rfd1 Nf8 14. Nb5 Ng6
15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Ne1 Rab8 17. b3 f5 18. Bf3 Ba6 19. Nc3 Ne5 20. Bh5 Ng6 21. g3
Bf6 22. Bf3 Rd7 23. Ne2 Rbd8 24. Bg2 Bb7 25. Bxb7 Qxb7 26. Nd3 Qc6 27. Nef4 a5
28. Nxg6 hxg6 29. Nb2 Kg7 30. Na4 Rh8 31. Rd3 Rhd8 32. R1d2 g5 33. Qd1 g4 34.
Qf1 Kf8 35. Qg2 Qxg2+ 36. Kxg2 Ke7 37. h3 gxh3+ 38. Kxh3 Rc7 39. Kg2 Rc6 40.
Rd1 Rh8 41. Re1 Bg7 42. Rdd1 Rcc8 43. Rh1 Rb8 44. Rxh8 Rxh8 45. Rh1 Rb8 46. Kf3
Rc8 47. Ke2 Rh8 48. Rxh8 Bxh8 49. Kd3 Kd7 50. e4 fxe4+ 51. Kxe4 Bd4 52. f3 Kc6
53. g4 d5+ 54. Kd3 Be5 55. Ke3 Ba1 56. f4 Bd4+ 57. Kd3 Ba1 58. f5 Bf6 59. fxe6
fxe6 60. Ke3 Bg5+ 61. Kf3 Kd6 62. Ke2 Bf6 63. Kd3 Kc6 64. Ke3 Bg5+ 65. Kd3
1/2-1/2
Posted by: modern at July 14, 2006 09:52
Results and games are at TWIC. Just post links, thanks.
http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/taiyuan06.pgn
Posted by: Mig at July 14, 2006 10:13
May u please send me some open chess events in China and new dates of Taiyuan Open. I am a good foreign chess player who lives in Taiyuan city,Shanxi province, China.